Organic light emitting diode (OLED) devices can suffer reduced output or premature failure when exposed to water vapor and/or oxygen. Metals and glasses have been used to encapsulate and prolong the life of OLED devices, but metals typically lack transparency and glass lacks flexibility. Efforts are underway to find alternative encapsulation materials for OLEDs and other electronic devices. Examples of various types of vacuum processes are described in the patent and technical literature for the formation of barrier coatings. These methods span the range of e-beam evaporation, thermal evaporation, electron-cyclotron resonance plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), magnetically enhanced PECVD, reactive sputtering, and others.
A need exists for improved encapsulation of organic electronic devices, such as OLEDs, organic photovoltaic devices (OPVs), and organic transistors, and inorganic electronic devices, such as thin film transistors (including those made using zinc oxide (ZnO), amorphous silicon (a-Si), and low temperature polysilicon (LTPSi)).